'A step in the right direction, but a small one.'

‘This is a step in the right direction, but only a small one. It’s neither consistent enough nor does it move anywhere near fast enough.’ These were the criticisms of Martin Leuthold, Head of Security & Network at SWITCH and member of the Cybersecurity Advisory Board of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences SATW.

The Advisory Board has therefore decided to respond and has written an open letter (only available in German) to President of the Confederation Alain Berset. The letter calls for the following measures to be taken:

The centre of excellence must possess the power to issue directives within the framework of NCS 2.0 and the interdepartmental responsibilities subsequently to be defined. A coordination role alone will not suffice for an effective, timely implementation.

The appointment of a ‘Ms/Mr Cyber’ should be a top priority and this individual should take up their role in the first quarter of 2019 at the latest. They must report directly to the Federal Council and have rapid, direct access to the specific Federal Council committee.

As a key immediate measure, MELANI and the NCS coordination unit should be assigned as many additional units as required to accelerate the implementation plans for NCS 2.0 and to complete these by the end of 2018 at the latest.

The 2019 budgets of the FDF, DDPS and FDJP (at a minimum) should allocate sufficient financial resources and staff for 2019 to allow the implementation of NCS 2.0 to begin in 2019.